Obama reports for jury duty in Chicago

Photo Courtesy: UPI

Nov. 8 (UPI) — Former President Barack Obama was back to civic service on Wednesday — jury duty.

Obama and his Secret Service detail showed up at the Daley Center in downtown Chicago — from his South Side home in the Kenwood neighborhood.

Obama, wearing a sport coat but no tie — an appearance he often enjoyed in relaxed environments as president — took a private elevator used by judges to the 17th floor jury assembly room. There, he joined prospective jurors, posed for photos and signed a few books.

Obama other Cook County jurors receive $17.20 a day for performing the service. It wasn’t known whether Obama was actually chosen for a jury that could hear a civil or criminal case.

“It shows us all that I don’t have a good excuse and it’s an important duty for all of us. So if he’s going to show up, I guess we all have to show up for this,” prospective juror Walter Palmer told WLS-TV.

On Oct. 27, Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans told county commissioners the former president had received a summons for jury duty. The 44th president’s “voting” residence is in Chicago, but he lives in Washington, D.C.

In January 2010, one year into his presidency, Obama’s name appeared up on a jury duty list at the Chicago area’s Bridgeview Courthouse. Obama, then occupied with other matters, couldn’t make it.

Obama wouldn’t be the first well-known juror to serve in Chicago. In 2004, Oprah Winfrey weighed in on a murder trial — and Mr. T was considered to hear a 2009 drug case in Rolling Meadows, but wasn’t chosen.

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